I’ve been a gamer since 1985 (OG Nintendo FTW !!!) and there was a good part of my life that I had all the time in the world to game. During those days, I had no issues isolating myself to play for long periods without repercussions. Nowadays, with the added responsibilities of being a professional and a dad, I have little to no time to sit down at my gaming desktop PC to play the latest AAA games. I had to find an alternative (cough… Steam Deck cough…).
Step 1 towards mobility: The gaming laptop
My first step into gaming mobility has been to start using a gaming laptop. It’s a great step in the right direction, allowing you to game wherever your better half decides to crash for the evening. The big bonus of this setup is that you can play AAA games on decent quality and framerates! But still, it’s a bit bulky, the power adaptor is in the way and you have to have a surface for the mouse all the time…
Steam Deck: The Eureka moment!
My gaming laptop served me well for a while, but I was still hungry for more mobility… Here comes the Steam Deck! I’ll be honest, the Steam Deck is not for everybody, it has its pros and cons, but for me, it’s the ideal gaming platform.
The Steam Deck is for you if :
- You like to game anywhere you may be
- You play in small bursts (1-2h at a time)
- You want to game on the couch while others around you are doing something else
- You want to connect your gaming rig to your TV easily
- You value gameplay over graphics
- You like less power-hungry types of games (indie games, AA games, top-down/2D games, etc…)
- You want to emulate all consoles known to man on one device
- You want to carry with you a versatile mini PC
The Steam Deck is NOT for you if :
- You want to run the new AAA game at 4k 120 FPS
- Your favourite game type is FPS shooters
- You don’t buy games on Steam
- You can’t adapt using a trackpad instead of a mouse in Steam Deck’s Desktop mode
In conclusion
The Steam Deck is the best gaming PC for me, a gaming dad with 2 kids and a demanding job. It gives me the possibility to play my favourite games in small bursts, close to the people I love. It allows me to game more often due to its versatility, and use it on the TV to see Pokemon episodes with the kids on Netflix. For me and all people with similar schedules, I truly think it’s the best gaming platform you can have in your arsenal.